How a Kid from East Cleveland Fell in Love with Commodities: Portfolio Review

"Commodities tend to zig when the equity markets zag." Jim Rogers

I always wanted to be a commodities trader.

Wild dream, right? Especially for a kid born in East Cleveland, where the only thing “grown” around me was imported from Afghanistan. (We’ll unpack that gem another day.)

I’d lose myself in the stories from Market Wizards, reading about these larger-than-life commodities traders. They all had a few things in common:

• They trusted price action above all else.

• They understood the macroeconomic forces behind every product they traded.

• They preached risk management like it was religion.

• Oh, and they were all gloriously, undeniably nuts.

And that’s when I knew: I fit right in.

I was hooked.

My First Trade for a Fund

I still remember the first time I got hired as a futures trader.

My first trade for them? Soybean meal.

When I told the desk what I was doing, they looked at me like I had three heads.

“WTF is soybean meal?” they said.

At that moment, I knew I was on the right track. Futures trading wasn’t just about money, it was a window into how interconnected the world truly is.

And nothing shows that better than commodities.

The Soybean Story

Fast forward to today. The last 30 days in North Brazil’s soybean regions? They’ve played out just as we forecasted. It’s been the third driest stretch on record, paired with normal temperatures, no extreme heat.

The result? A crop that’s neither a disaster nor a bumper. It’s good, but it’s not great.

Meanwhile, in South Brazil, it’s been a tale of two extremes:

• Paraná: The third wettest 30-day period on record.

• Rio Grande do Sul: The fifth driest.

Again, no extreme heat to create outright catastrophe, but it’s far from ideal. Vegetative maps confirm this good but not exceptional.